TV Review: Game of Thrones Episode 8 & 9

I’ve decided to mix both episode 8 and 9 into one post, why? Because I so totally can.

At the expense of having a huge wall of text, I’m still enjoying the show and HBO is still doing a fantastic job, so lets get to it, shall we?

Game of Thrones Episode 8

Maybe HBO heard my cries of confusion, but there is no episode recap this time, it was strange to have one start 70% of the way through the season, but it’s even weirder to not include it anytime after that. I wonder who was the one behind the idea of the recap, maybe while they were planning the episodes they realized that they had an extra five minutes so they decided to insert a recap for no apparent reason, either way, I’m glad it’s gone.

The episode opens with Arya and Serio Forel during practice, it is here that Arya learns the true secret to sword play which is survival and seeing your enemy at all times. At this point Eddard has already been taken captive and the Lannister men are killing off servants of house Stark. So yay for being completely oblivious!

Sansa is alerted to the fighting and runs while Arya and Serio are confronted by Lannister swordsmen. Luckily Arya is able to escape because Serio is a bad-ass with a wooden sword. This is where the mystery of Serio Forel begins. It is said that people still don’t know what has happened to him. I can only hope he becomes reborn as a venerable dreadnaught.

Afterward is a touching scene between Varys and Eddard, here we find out which team Varys plays for and how much of a stinkin’ idiot Ned is. Seriously, how can he be so dense? Ned confirmed for biggest troll.

Now, tell us where the bad man touched you

Somebody once mentioned in the comments of one of my posts that they wanted some word about the cinematography, well to be honest I’m not very qualified to speak about filming or anything related but there a few shots that really struck me. First off is the one above. Here we see Sansa Stark speaking in front of Cersei, Baelish, Varys, and Pycell. She sits all by her self on one side, as three of the most powerful people in the kingdom stare her down, it’s a powerful shot which allowed me to feel slightly bad that Sansa had such a stupid upbringing when it came to “being a lady” because it has blinded her to whats happening.

Immediately after is another really awesome scene. Robb just receives Sansa’s letter and decides to march to King’s Landing to face his father’s attackers. Then we get a shot of Winterfell with what seems dozens upon dozens of ravens flying. As we all know ravens are used to deliver important messages and here we finally see the reach and power the wardens of the north truly have. I find this to be important because it makes House Stark seem that much more believable as a House that matters, you don’t really get the impression of the power they hold until late.

Tryion barters with the hill tribes of the vale for a price that could prove to be costly even for a Lannister. While this is happening, Jon Snow is dealing with inner turmoil as his family nears danger, he eventually is forgiven of being a angsty teen because he was the only one who knew that you must kill zombies with fire. Dany has set her and Khal Drogo on a dark path. Have I mentioned that Jorah Mormont has an awesome voice?

Yes, you do see his penis, but it’s ok because he’s functually retarded!

Robb is prepares for war, we finally see Rickon again, and Hodor debuts as a nude model. Soon after, Tyrion finally makes it back to the Blood’s HD in Los Angeles with a army of hobo warriors. Tywin finally makes his move against Robb and the war is coming.

Oh and guess what? Joffrey is still a dick. Oh and Arya stabs some kid. Forgot to mention that, silly me!

Oh, u so mad!

Intermission

Episode 9

We’re one episode away from the season finale and it’s down to the wire I’m as excited as anybody to see how HBO does the final chapters of Game of thrones. As they say, you don’t know where you’re going unless you know where you’ve been. So lets take a brief look at what happened in episode 9.

The episode starts up with Varys visiting Ned and again we see the true face of Eddard Stark. We are again left wondering what makes Ned so great, why he has to be one to carry all those burdens. Maybe if I could ask George Martin then maybe I would inquire “why the fuck would you make one of the best characters such a dipshit?!” I’m sorry, I’m rambling, lets move on.

Now comes the crossing at the Trident. Robb and his army need to cross the river but they need the permission of Walder Frey, a man as old as the skies with as many children as the stones that make up his keep. I couldn’t find the name of the actor (nor do I remember) but he did a good job as Lord Fray. He didn’t feel quite as ancient as he’s described in the novels, but that’s ok.

Not important, but this shot is stunning. Never imagined The Twins like this.

Then we fly back to the wall, where Lord Commander Mormont gives Snow a sword, but not just any sword, but the sword he would have given to Jorah Mormont had he not fled. I’ve always loved the story of Jon Snow it truly is one of growth and maturity. Also Zombies.

I feel that the story of Daenerys hasn’t been given enough time on screen, you never really feel her struggle or her growth the way it was meant to be showed. So when Khal Drogo falls from his horse drained of energy from his wounds it doesn’t give the impact I feel it deserves. The Dothraki are a simple people when it comes to who rules and who doesn’t. The strongest survive and one of the biggest rites of path is horse riding. That’s why Viserys was forced to walk, and that’s why the wine vendor was forced to follow the Khalasar. When Drogo falls, it’s the worst thing that could possibly happen to her. The only reason she has been allowed to survive this long is because of Khal Drogo’s love and affection.

After this is where the show takes a turn for the super goddamn creepy. I don’t want to ruin anything, but if you did watch the scene with the blood witch. I was seriously afraid, I didn’t know what to expect. To ease my fears HBO decided to show a little bit of Jorah Mormont, who by the way is fantastically played by the amazingly rugged Iain Glen.

Next is a scene with Tyrion is and his paid girl in his tent the night before Robbs surprise attack. Which is pretty nice since it’s more character development, but again allow me to complain and this is a big one. Seeing Tyrion in his armor was a real joy, It’s nice to see that HBO didn’t skimp on neat costumes, but…they did skimp on something. And it’s pretty big.

Game of Thrones is about WAR. Strip it of all the fancy story telling, interesting characters, fantastic world and you have two things: a shitty story and a story about war and politics. So why the hell, in the second to last episode, when you have two of the biggest battles, do you show nothing but the aftermath? Did the budget run out? Why didn’t we get to see Jaime Lannister get pincered at Riverrun? Why, HBO would you rob me of that pleasure? I’ve given you nothing but praise and even taken time out of my busy schedule to write about your show. I am nothing short of disappointed. I understand time constraints, but this is what the entire series has been building up to. War.

Then the unimaginable happens. Oh lord HBO has done it now!

You can’t really say that Eddard is the “main character” and that the story revolved around him. While you could make the argument, this is obviously not the case. The issue is that when it comes to a television show, audiences need a main character to rally around. Dexter has Dexter and House has House. Knowing this fact a few associates of mine made the case that this is where HBO would make it’s biggest change and keep Ned alive for the sake of the Television audience..for that answer, you really have to watch this week’s Game of Thrones.

I’ll see you next week for the final episode of season of Game of Thrones. Remember that you can catch Game of Thrones Sunday night’s on HBO.